Private security for marijuana issues? Mendocino company wants to work in Humboldt

With the proliferation of illicit outdoor marijuana grows on private lands in Northern California showing no sign of slowing -- stretching the limits of state and federal law enforcement agencies -- a private security company in Mendocino County aims to fill a need for ranchers and timber companies.

Ukiah resident Ken Good said he wants to bring his services, called Compass Security, to Humboldt County.

"We want to provide a needed service for rural landowners," Good said. "The sheriff's department -- people sometimes call them and say, someone might have a pot garden on my property an hour out a trail. Well the sheriff's department, they don't have the time to jump on that."

In Mendocino County, Sheriff Tom Allman told the Ukiah Daily Journal he's enthusiastic about the help Good provides. Allman even called their arrangement a "partnership." In Humboldt County, law enforcement has expressed skepticism about the possibility of working with Good or a similar private security company.

Good said he works for two timber companies in Mendocino County. On Thursday, he was patrolling the Usal property, a large tract of timberland west of U.S. Highway 101 near Piercy and Leggett.

Good said he adapts his services to the needs of his client. He and his team of six former law enforcement, military, and what he calls "lifetime outdoorsman-type guys," patrol 170,000 acres in Mendocino County. They are licensed, and armed, he said.

Good said what makes his company unique is its license to work with multiple customers, unlike most timber land security. He said he is also licensed to deal with growers in "a more tactical fashion."

Last summer, Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo was shot and killed by a mentally-ill man at the scene of an opium poppy grow on private property in Mendocino County. The shooting drew new attention to the dangers surrounding what officials see as increasing lawlessness on park and timber lands throughout the region.

"In the past, many companies have simply sent employees in to chase out trespassers, but as the Jere Melo incident showed, that can be risky," Good wrote in an email.

Good said his men sometimes go out to pot gardens, tear up the infrastructure, and post signs.

They also do personal protection services, "if someone wants to go and check something out on their property," he said.

Good's company, which he started this spring, raises questions about whether such private security forces could become a trend in Humboldt County. An August Times-Standard story looked at how marijuana culture in the county has changed -- morphing from locally-raised operators who kept a low profile to growers who come from outside the area and cultivate on a massive scale.

After flying over Southern Humboldt last summer, Humboldt County Sheriff Mike Downey told the Times-Standard that the scope of the marijuana grows he saw was staggering.

Sheriff's Lt. Steve Knight said he would have concerns if Good started working in the county. Knight stressed that Good's men, while licensed, are not law enforcement officers and can't make arrests.

Good originally ran into similar concerns from law enforcement in Mendocino when he set up a volunteer-based "neighborhood-watch" type security force to go after marijuana growers in 2010. That was the impetus for the Compass Security team.

In Humboldt County the current arrangement between timber companies and the sheriff's office works fine, Knight said. A timber company will notify the sheriff's office, and take them to the marijuana grow rather than dealing with it themselves, he said.

"We might go back at a later date in time," he said. "It's usually not an emergency."

Rio Dell rancher Steve Hackett said he has seen his fair share of trespassing, including marijuana grows, people that dump garbage, four wheelers, and even someone who tried to steal his excavator.

"Someone broke in and hot wired it," he said. "We got there Monday morning, and it was idling. Whoever it was was trying to load big redwood chunks into his truck."

Hackett said his 3,600 acre property is small enough that he can usually stay on top of marijuana grows. "If you're paying attention, they're pretty easy to spot," he said.

As far as private security, there's just not the money for it.

"There's no margin to pay for that kind of stuff," he said.

Hackett said sheriff's office works fine for him, even if they take a couple days.

George Brightman, a rancher in Bridgeville, said he's also called the sheriff's office for help with marijuana grows on his property. The biggest problem on his land is deer poaching, he said.

Once, when Brightman found a larger grow on his property, he said he left a note for the culprits to remove their plants and infrastructure.

"They didn't take their stuff out, so I called the sheriff," he said. "I wouldn't want to deal with it myself."